It was originally named by early European visitors, Bahia Formosa (beautiful bay) by early Portuguese explorers and lies on South Africa's Garden Route 210 km from Port Elizabeth and about 600 km from Cape Town.

Caves in Nelson's Bay Cave and Matjies River Cave at nearby Keurboomstrand indicate they were inhabited for over 100 000 years by Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) man and then later by ancestors of the Khoisan. Although originally chartered by Bartholomew Dias in 1487, the first European inhabitants were 100 Portuguese sailors marooned in the bay for 9 months when the San Gonzales sank in the bay in 1630.

The survivors built two small boats which they used to link with a passing vessel. A stone that they left behind on Beacon Island, known as the Van Plettenberg Stone, is now in the Cape Town museum.

Plettenberg Bay was named after Governor Joachim von Plettenberg, who incorporated the bay under the administrative sovereignty of the Dutch-East India Trading Company in 1778. The Company used the place primarily as a shipping port for the hardwood timber that grew everywhere. Later on there was a whaling station built here, which was active until 1920.

Plattenberg Bay is now part of the Bitou municipality area which comprises the area from Covie to Harkerville, extending inland to Uplands and includes the suburbs of Covie, Nature's Valley, the Crags, Keurboomstrand, Keurboomsriver, Wittedrift, Green Valley, Uplands, Gansevallei, Plettenberg Bay, Qolweni/Bossiesgif/Pinetree, New Horizons, Ladywood, KwaNokuthula and Harkerville.

Plettenberg Bay is one the must stops of The Garden Route its tranquil and charming, hospitality is rather special. Plettenberg Bay offers the visitor miles of sweeping, un-spoilt golden beaches, a dramatic rocky peninsula, intriguing lagoons and estuaries, towering indigenous forests and unpolluted rivers and sea.

Close by Nestling in the great forests lying at the feet of the fabled Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains is the quaint hamlet of Storms River offering teeming birdlife, vast expanses of Cape flora, delicate eco-systems in wetlands and lagoons, gigantic trees and adrenaline pumping activities such as the world's highest bungee jump and tree canopy tours.

Nature's Valley is situated 30km's from Plettenberg Bay and the most unspoilt of all of Bitou. This little bay's untouched indigenous trees, forest and beautiful un-spoilt coastline has been preserved since the first inhabitants of early times. It is also the only town within a national park.

The Garden Routes main highway is the N2 coastal road, remember that the N2 is not the Garden Route, take time to wander off the highway, there are fascinating places, to see, stunning scenery, unique accommodation that will simply take your breath away, as well simple beautifully situated places to stay, that will give you a local experience. Great things to do for all ages, from the adrenalin pumping to the relaxing and serene, come and experience not just drive and see.